Whether you’re in the demolition business or a general contractor bringing your clients’ vision to life, the equipment, materials and machinery that you operate are what will help you on your path to profit. Having the right mix of new and used iron, whether renting or leasing heavy equipment, can be a daunting challenge when project backlog fluctuations, inflation, and construction supply chain issues compete against cash reserves and cash flows. To win in today’s market, firms need to acquire equipment with a sustainable strategy surrounded by flexible equipment financing. Solving this challenge often requires looking beyond the sameness of traditional lending and seeking the unique benefits of a strong, independent equipment lender.
What is an Independent Equipment Lender?
Banks are necessary for economic success and undoubtedly beneficial to the construction, building and mining trades. But as banks have become exponentially larger and their scope of services has expanded to riskier activities, regulation has increased accordingly as well. As such, bank decision-making must happen in the construct of a regulatory environment that simply doesn’t always align with the pace, flexibility and creativity required for the capital needs of construction and industrial firms—leaving a void in the market.
Independent lenders raise their own capital to offer specialty financing without the regulatory process and bureaucratic obstacles banks are required to operate within. They can move faster, be more flexible, and bring unique expertise in the type of financing or industry served. This adaptability is found especially attractive for executives seeking heavy equipment financing or specialty equipment funding for construction, demolition, or forestry assets. Independent equipment lenders fill the void left by traditional lenders.
Independent Equipment Lender Advantages
What if you need a payment structure for excavators and dump trucks that align with revenues collected during busy seasons? Could lower crane and loader payments in the first few months make it easier to take on new projects? If you aligned your monthly crusher and grader expenses to your use of the assets, or the revenue streams that come from use, could you enhance cash flows?
These are only a few of the questions that demonstrate the flexibility and reach offered by independent equipment lenders. With a deeper understanding of bidding, backlog, the equipment uses and equipment life, independent financiers can create truly customized and powerful payment solutions.
But flexibility extends beyond finance structure. It extends to finance approvals. Traditional lenders are bound by credit policies that are rarely built from knowledge of a specific industry and even more rarely tailored from business to business. Independents can dig deeper into your story as opposed to only relying on a history of financial performance. The result may yield access to more capital, better financial structures, or approval of needs traditional lenders avoid.
Beyond approval and access to capital lies the most undervalued benefit independents bring to the needs of heavy equipment financing: industry expertise. Independents understand the equipment, resale implications, and residual values. They combine that knowledge with the expert-level interpretation of the issues facing construction firms to offer strategic direction. Working with independents can help heavy equipment and yellow iron users develop a plan to acquire, finance, manage and dispose of equipment in a way that maximizes cash position, cash flow and ultimately, profit.
What to seek in an Independent Equipment Lender?
Finding the right independent construction equipment financing partner may be easier than you think. Here are several key attributes to consider that are ultimately paramount in your success acquiring capital for heavy equipment:
- Years of experience. It’s really important that a lender has demonstrated success with construction, mining, forestry, and other construction trades which require heavy equipment.
- Geographic reach and financing solutions. Ensuring lenders have a full complement of construction equipment leasing and heavy equipment loan structures that can be deployed throughout the United States and Canada is essential.
- Broad credit appetite. The financial ups and downs and seasonality of many industries are part of being in the business. A strong heavy equipment finance source should seek to understand and overcome these issues.
- Financial strength. A good lender should be supported by diversified sources of capital and use its own balance sheet to maximize flexibility and competitive offerings.
- All kinds of equipment and dollar amounts. New or used, stock or custom—the right heavy equipment finance provider can offer financing for small and large capital needs alike.
NFS Leasing: The ‘Story’ Credit Construction Equipment Lender
NFS Leasing has funded the construction equipment and project needs of early-stage, turnaround, and high-growth firms since 2007. With over $1B in capital deployed to companies requiring funding beyond the limitations of traditional lending, NFS Leasing is committed to digging deeper, getting creative, and solving the problems that empower you to capitalize on the market opportunities.
If you have a piece of equipment, project, or unique heavy equipment leasing or construction equipment financing need, let’s talk.
